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The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters portrayed by an ensemble of actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released quarterly by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from January 1946 through January 1958.
The Bowery Boys were successors of The East Side Kids, which had been a Monogram series since 1940. The group originated as The Dead End Kids, who originally appeared in the 1937 film Dead End.
The Dead End Kids originally appeared in the 1935 play Dead End, dramatized by Sidney Kingsley. When Samuel Goldwyn turned the play into a 1937 film, he hired the original "kids" from the play—Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly—to appear in the same roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films that shared the collective title The Dead End Kids.
In 1938, Universal launched its own tough-kid series, Little Tough Guys. Gradually, Universal recruited most of the original Dead End Kids, so the series ultimately featured the "Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys." Universal made 12 feature films and three 12-chapter serials with the gang. The final film in Universal's series, Keep 'Em Slugging, was released in 1943, with Bobby Jordan replacing erstwhile ringleader Billy Halop, and Norman Abbott replacing Bernard Punsly.
Independent producer Sam Katzman cashed in on the Dead End Kids' popularity by producing a low-budget imitation, East Side Kids (1940), with six juvenile actors, including Hally Chester, who had appeared with individual Dead Enders in various films, and former Our Gang kid Donald Haines. The film was released by Monogram Pictures. When Bobby Jordan and Leo Gorcey became available in 1940, Katzman signed them, and the East Side Kids became a Monogram series. Katzman also signed Leo's brother David Gorcey and "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, another Our Gang alumnus. Original Dead End Kids Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell followed Jordan and Gorcey to Monogram, as did freelance juvenile Billy Benedict of the Little Tough Guys.
The original Dead End Kids were now working at two different studios, so the East Side Kids were made at the same time that Universal was making the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys series. In total, 22 East Side Kids films were made, with the final one, Come Out Fighting, released in 1945.
In 1945, when East Side Kids producer Katzman refused to grant Leo Gorcey's request to double his weekly salary, Gorcey quit the series, which then ended immediately. Bobby Jordan then suggested a meeting with his agent, Jan Grippo. Grippo, Gorcey, and Hall formed Jan Grippo Productions, revamped the format, and rechristened the series The Bowery Boys. (The earlier films' credits appear as Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys.) Gorcey, who owned 40% of the company, starred in and co-produced the films, and contributed to the scripts. The new series followed a more established formula than the prior incarnations of the team, with the gang usually hanging out at Louie's Sweet Shop (at 3rd and Canal St.) until an adventure came along.
The original main characters were Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones (Huntz Hall), Bobby (Bobby Jordan), Whitey (Billy Benedict), and Homer (William Frambes). Homer was replaced after the first film by Chuck (David Gorcey, sometimes billed as David Condon). In 1948, Bobby was replaced by Butch Williams, with former East Side Kids Bennie Bartlett and Buddy Gorman alternating in the role. The proprietor of the sweet shop where they hung out was the panicky Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey, Leo and David's real-life father).
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The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters portrayed by an ensemble of actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released quarterly by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from January 1946 through January 1958.
The Bowery Boys were successors of The East Side Kids, which had been a Monogram series since 1940. The group originated as The Dead End Kids, who originally appeared in the 1937 film Dead End.
The Dead End Kids originally appeared in the 1935 play Dead End, dramatized by Sidney Kingsley. When Samuel Goldwyn turned the play into a 1937 film, he hired the original "kids" from the play—Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly—to appear in the same roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films that shared the collective title The Dead End Kids.
In 1938, Universal launched its own tough-kid series, Little Tough Guys. Gradually, Universal recruited most of the original Dead End Kids, so the series ultimately featured the "Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys." Universal made 12 feature films and three 12-chapter serials with the gang. The final film in Universal's series, Keep 'Em Slugging, was released in 1943, with Bobby Jordan replacing erstwhile ringleader Billy Halop, and Norman Abbott replacing Bernard Punsly.
Independent producer Sam Katzman cashed in on the Dead End Kids' popularity by producing a low-budget imitation, East Side Kids (1940), with six juvenile actors, including Hally Chester, who had appeared with individual Dead Enders in various films, and former Our Gang kid Donald Haines. The film was released by Monogram Pictures. When Bobby Jordan and Leo Gorcey became available in 1940, Katzman signed them, and the East Side Kids became a Monogram series. Katzman also signed Leo's brother David Gorcey and "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, another Our Gang alumnus. Original Dead End Kids Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell followed Jordan and Gorcey to Monogram, as did freelance juvenile Billy Benedict of the Little Tough Guys.
The original Dead End Kids were now working at two different studios, so the East Side Kids were made at the same time that Universal was making the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys series. In total, 22 East Side Kids films were made, with the final one, Come Out Fighting, released in 1945.
In 1945, when East Side Kids producer Katzman refused to grant Leo Gorcey's request to double his weekly salary, Gorcey quit the series, which then ended immediately. Bobby Jordan then suggested a meeting with his agent, Jan Grippo. Grippo, Gorcey, and Hall formed Jan Grippo Productions, revamped the format, and rechristened the series The Bowery Boys. (The earlier films' credits appear as Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys.) Gorcey, who owned 40% of the company, starred in and co-produced the films, and contributed to the scripts. The new series followed a more established formula than the prior incarnations of the team, with the gang usually hanging out at Louie's Sweet Shop (at 3rd and Canal St.) until an adventure came along.
The original main characters were Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones (Huntz Hall), Bobby (Bobby Jordan), Whitey (Billy Benedict), and Homer (William Frambes). Homer was replaced after the first film by Chuck (David Gorcey, sometimes billed as David Condon). In 1948, Bobby was replaced by Butch Williams, with former East Side Kids Bennie Bartlett and Buddy Gorman alternating in the role. The proprietor of the sweet shop where they hung out was the panicky Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey, Leo and David's real-life father).